Tag: Standings

CBS Sports doesn’t buy the Saints as a new playoff team in 2024

CBS Sports doesn’t buy the Saints as a new playoff team in 2024. New Orleans has more work to do before they’ll earn anyone’s confidence:

Not many people are buying what the New Orleans Saints are selling — that a team quarterbacked by Derek Carr and coached by Dennis Allen can reach the postseason. Between their own shortcomings and the upgrades other teams in the NFC South have made this offseason, New Orleans is predicted to be watching the playoffs from home like everyone else.

It’s the Atlanta Falcons who will be hosting a playoff game next January, argues Cody Benjamin for CBS Sports. Here’s why Benjamin argues the Falcons, not the Saints, are going to the postseason in 2024:

The Falcons had all the ingredients for a wild-card run in 2023, except a legitimate signal-caller. Now Kirk Cousins is under center, and while his career suggests more of a steady hand than a special talent, he’s got enough ascending skill talent and underrated defensive support to warrant an instant playoff berth in the wide-open NFC South.

It’s early, but Cousins might be the most overrated player to change teams this offseason. The quarterback turns 36 this summer and is coming off of Achilles surgery after an unsuccessful six-year run with the Minnesota Vikings in which he won as many home playoff games as he did in six years with Washington: zero. The only postseason success Cousins found in Minnesota came in 2019, when the Saints (who else?) choked in front of their own home crowd.

Cousins and Carr have been unfavorably compared to each other for years, and their numbers are very similar. So are their resumes. You could argue that Cousins is entering a better situation than Carr found in New Orleans last season, but they’re both teaming up with defensive-minded head coaches who got ran out of one NFL city once already, and who both have sub-.400 career winning percentages (Dennis Allen is at .343, Raheem Morris is at .356). They aren’t that different.

Maybe Cousins is a better quarterback than his production suggests, but he isn’t much better than Carr. The Falcons haven’t won anything with the roster he’s inheriting. At least the Saints have players who have won games in January before, even if it’s been a while. We’ll have to wait and see whether all this confidence Cousins is receiving was warranted when the season kicks off in September.

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Big Ten basketball tournament bracket released

Big Ten Basketball Tournament Bracket released

The 2023-24 Big Ten regular season concluded on Sunday.

For Wisconsin, the finale was a 78-70 loss to Purdue that dropped the team to 19-12, 11-9 in Big Ten play.

Purdue finished atop the conference with a stellar 17-3 record, a full three games clear of second-place Illinois. After the Illini, the third-best records were shared by Nebraska and Northwestern, both relative surprises after low expectations entering the season.

Related: Wisconsin social media infuriated after Badgers crushing loss to Purdue

Then Wisconsin’s 11-9 record fits in, six games behind Purdue.

The rest of the conference is bunched up behind the Badgers, with three teams at 10-10, three at 9-11, two at 7-13 and Michigan at 3-17.

The Big Ten Tournament begins Wednesday evening with No. 13 Rutgers vs. No. 12 Maryland and No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 11 Penn State. Then the action resumes on Thursday with most other teams in action.

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin’s controversial loss to No. 3 Purdue

Here’s the official 2024 Big Ten Tournament bracket:

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

First round of Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments only on one streaming service

More streaming-only games on the horizon:

The first round of the 2024 Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be exclusively broadcast on Peacock, according to a release from NBC Sports.

The women’s tournament began Wednesday, March 6, while the men’s tournament tips off Wednesday, March 13.

The first round of each tournament only includes games between the conference’s bottom four teams — No. 11 vs No. 14 and No. 12 vs No. 13 specifically.

Related: ESPN Bracketology: Latest update on Wisconsin entering final stretch

The second round is where most of the real action begins, and is where Wisconsin is currently slated in both brackets.

The Wisconsin women’s team is the No. 10 seed entering the tournament and is scheduled to face No. 7 Penn State at 5:30 p.m. central on Thursday, March 7.

The Wisconsin men’s team, meanwhile, is currently the No. 5 seed with a few conference games remaining. A 2-0 record could bring them to the double-bye category and have them avoid the second round entirely.

Either way, neither Badger basketball team will be playing its Big Ten Tournament contest on Peacock.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Purdue tops Illinois, clinches outright Big Ten title

This season became a huge missed opportunity for Wisconsin

The No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers (27-3, 16-3 Big Ten) edged No. 12 Illinois (22-8, 13-6 Big Ten) 77-71 Tuesday night, clinching the outright Big Ten regular season title for the second consecutive season.

Standout guard Braden Smith drilled the late dagger, pulling up and hitting a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game with 18 seconds remaining.

Though Illinois controlled the contest throughout, a dominant late surge by the Boilermakers proved too much for the Fighting Illini. The win yet again crowns Purdue as the Big Ten’s best, again setting the program up for a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Related: Wisconsin faithful, college basketball world react to Howard Moore’s emotional return to Kohl Center

The Wisconsin-related story here: what a gigantic missed opportunity this season is becoming.

The Badgers entered February ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and leading the Big Ten standings with an 8-1 record. Since that point, the team is 2-7 with losses to everyone from Purdue to last-place Michigan. The team has crashed down to earth after appearing to be a Final Four contender just five weeks ago.

Could Wisconsin have outlasted Purdue all season? Who knows. But the Badgers were setting the pace just 33 days ago. Now, Greg Gard’s team is down to fifth in the conference standings and no longer a double-bye team in the Big Ten Tournament.

Wisconsin led the Big Ten entering February. It will finish more than six games behind Purdue in the final standings. That’s startling context for Wisconsin’s fall.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin basketball’s February was one to forget

Wisconsin basketball’s February was one to forget

Wisconsin basketball may be rejoicing now that the calendar has turned to March.

March means opportunities in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. Importantly, it also means the end of February.

Wisconsin’s February was one to forget. The Badgers entered the month 16-4 on the season and 8-1 in Big Ten play. The team sat in first place in the conference standings, was ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and bordered on the 1-line in most bracketologies.

Related: Wisconsin basketball social media reacts to the arena evacuation, Wisconsin’s loss to Indiana

Then Greg Gard’s team went 2-6 over the month, including inexplicable losses at last-place Michigan and struggling Indiana. The team went 0-5 on the road, mixing in a lifeless loss at Rutgers with deflating last-second losses to Iowa and Nebraska.

Wisconsin is now 18-10 overall and 10-7 in Big Ten play. It has fallen out of the top four teams in the conference, is comfortably outside the AP Top 25 and has dropped to a 5-seed in bracketologies.

Maybe the arrival of March is a good thing, since there’s no possible way it can be worse than February.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin continues to fall in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology

Wisconsin continues to fall in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology

Wisconsin basketball may be past its early February woes.

The Badgers have won two of their last three, with the one loss coming at the buzzer in overtime at Iowa.

The Big Ten race is mostly over with Purdue leading the way. But Wisconsin still has an important four games remaining in its regular season — games that are critical for NCAA Tournament seeding.

Related: Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after its big win over Maryland

The first is Tuesday evening at Indiana. Wisconsin then faces Illinois and Rutgers at home before finishing the regular season at Purdue. A 3-1 mark through that stretch would do wonders for the team’s NCAA Tournament standing.

That standing has dropped significantly in the last few weeks. Wisconsin is currently down to a 5-seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology — down from being a borderline 1-seed entering February.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin basketball is technically still alive in the Big Ten race

Believe Wisconsin can go on a run to end the season?

Wisconsin basketball returned to the win column with a statement victory over Maryland on Tuesday.

The Badgers’ February slide may be a thing of the past. The team has now won two of its last three, with the one loss coming in overtime against an improving Iowa team.

Related: Big Ten starting quarterback rankings for 2024

Some Wisconsin fans may have checked out of the season when the Badgers lost five of six to start February. The sentiment is understandable, the team fell from a potential Final Four contender to one scraping to beat bad teams, it fell from No. 6 in the country to unranked and it relinquished its lead atop the Big Ten standings.

The first two can easily be righted with a few wins in March. The third — Wisconsin’s place in the Big Ten race — appears to be over, but Wisconsin does have a sliver of hope.

Related: Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after its big win over Maryland

The current Big Ten standings are as follows:

  1. Purdue (13-3)
  2. Illinois (10-5) — 2.5 games behind
  3. Wisconsin (10-6) — 3 games behind
  4. Northwestern (10-6) — 3 games behind

Wisconsin does still have a longshot hope to win the Big Ten. Here’s what must happen:

  • Wisconsin goes 3-0 against Indiana, Illinois and Rutgers
  • Purdue goes 1-2 against Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois
  • Wisconsin defeats Purdue to end the season on March 10

That would put the Badgers and Boilermakers in a tie for the conference lead at 14-6. It’s a long shot, but there is at least some hope entering the final stretch of the conference schedule.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin social media expresses displeasure with Greg Gard after Badgers latest loss

Thoughts on the state of Wisconsin basketball?

Wisconsin basketball’s February skid continued Saturday with a deflating 88-86 overtime loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Badgers (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) are a full three games behind first-place Purdue even with the Boilermakers’ Sunday loss to unranked Ohio State.

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A season that once seemed so promising — a No. 6 rank in the AP Poll, an 8-1 record in Big Ten play and a borderline 1-seed in bracketologies — is on the brink of unraveling. The Badgers are sure to be unranked in this week’s AP Poll. The Big Ten race is all-but-decided, and it feels as if an early NCAA Tournament exit looms.

There isn’t much of a positive side of the coin. But five conference games remain: vs. Maryland, at Indiana, vs. Illinois, vs. Rutgers and at Purdue. There is still a chance the team suddenly regains its January form and goes on a run into March. But, the overwhelming feeling among Badger fans is this slide will continue.

That sentiment has been shared on social media over the last 24 hours. More than anything, believe it or not, the recent losses have re-ignited the segment of the fan base that vocally opposes head coach Greg Gard.

We will litigate the head coach discussion when the season concludes, as I believe it is unfair to do so when five regular-season games, the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament loom.

But numerous Wisconsin fans on X expressed their displeasure with head coach Greg Gard after the Badgers’ loss at Iowa:

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin’s loss to Iowa was made worse by Sunday’s results

Wisconsin’s loss to Iowa was made worse by Sunday’s results

Wisconsin’s 88-86 overtime loss to Iowa on Saturday was made worse by Sunday afternoon’s results.

The No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers fell, 73-69, at unranked Ohio State. The loss dropped Purdue to 23-3, 12-3 in Big Ten play, opening the conference race with a few games remaining.

It felt as if Wisconsin’s hope of a Big Ten title went out the window when the team lost at Iowa on Saturday. The loss was Wisconsin’s fifth in its last six contests, dropping its record to 17-9, 9-6 in Big Ten play.

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After seeing Purdue lose at Ohio State, it’s hard to not look back at Wisconsin’s loss and wonder how different things would have looked had the team pulled out a win. Wisconsin’s conference deficit would have been just two games, with a head-to-head matchup against Purdue to end the season.

Now, the three-game separation between the two teams may be a bit too much to overcome.

Wisconsin has five conference games remaining: vs. Maryland, at Indiana, vs. Illinois, vs. Rutgers and at Purdue. The Badgers remain mathematically alive. They need to go undefeated and have the Boilermakers somehow go 2-2 over their next four contests.

Getting both of those things to happen would be a tall task.

The Badgers have been on the doorstep of several wins during their losing streak, most notably at Nebraska and at Iowa. It’s hard not to play the what-if game when it comes to those contests and the conference race.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin basketball is no longer one of the best teams in the Big Ten

Thoughts on the last few weeks of Wisconsin basketball?

The Wisconsin Badgers fell at the overtime buzzer to the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday in Iowa City.

The loss was the Badgers’ fifth in their last six tries and dropped the team to 17-9 on the season and 9-6 in Big Ten play. In 18 days, Wisconsin has dropped from the clear conference leader to tied with Michigan State for third, 3 1/2 games behind first-place Purdue.

The standings tell the story. The Badgers are in the midst of an incredible collapse.

ESPN BPI and KenPom’s ratings also tell the story effectively. Each has Wisconsin as the distant fourth-best team in the conference.

  • KenPom: Purdue (No. 3 overall), Illinois (No. 8), Michigan State (No. 15), Wisconsin (No. 19)
  • ESPN BPI: Purdue (No. 2 overall), Illinois (No. 10), Michigan State (No. 16), Wisconsin (No. 20)

Remember, Wisconsin was alone at No. 2 in the conference behind Purdue entering the month of February.

Not only have the Badgers dropped from a top seed in NCAA Tournament projections to clinging to a 4-seed, the team is falling further and further from the top of the Big Ten.

Time still allows for Wisconsin to turn it around and return to its early season form. Up next is a home game against Maryland (14-12) before a finishing at Indiana, home against Illinois, home against Rutgers and at Purdue.

The Badgers need to turn things around before it’s too late.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.